


Recruitment gone viral

by amaresu



Category: Global Frequency, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: 5 Things, Community: yj_anon_meme, Crossover, Gen, Young Justice/Global Frequency, but not really 5 things as it's more 4 plus 1 plus 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-27
Updated: 2012-02-27
Packaged: 2017-10-31 20:05:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/347874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amaresu/pseuds/amaresu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or four superheros Miranda Zero recruited to the Global Frequency, one who turned her down, and one who was already there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Recruitment gone viral

The woman approaches him on one of his periodic trips to Providence. They serve no real purpose beyond allowing him to connect to humanity on a small scale, the daily interactions that most people take for granted, but he thinks that it is purpose enough. He finds the ordinary tasks to be enjoyable for their ordinariness. It's also one of the few occasions he allows himself to use the holographic projector to blend in with the crowd. It's as he's walking away from news stand that he notices the woman watching him from across the street. He runs her face through his database and finds no match so he chooses to ignore her for the time being. Perhaps she is simply admiring the projection around him, he had been assured it would be considered handsome.

She follows him down the block though and he ducks into a coffee shop, hooking up to their wifi and networking with the Justice League databases to try and find a facial recognition match. He buys a coffee he won't drink to provide cover and sits at one of the tables in the back of the shop. He's not surprised when the woman walks into the shop, he is surprised when she walks directly to him and sits down, “Do you know who I am?”

“I do not,” He answers and attempts to boost the speed of the search to no avail. “You have been following me.”

“You're Red Tornado. Don't bother denying it,” She smirks at him and steals his coffee. “I'm Miranda Zero.”

“You're an urban legend,” He responds after a moment, no longer paying attention to the search being run. If she truly is Miranda Zero she won't show up in any database. “The Global Frequency is a myth.”

She drains at least half of his coffee before responding, “I like being a myth. But some myths are real and this is one of them. I've got 756 agents on the Global Frequency and I'd like you to be the 757th.”

“Why?” He's heard the stories of a secret rescue organization, but he's unsure of why they would need him.

“Simple, you're an expert on artificial intelligence. You've got three engineering degrees under three different names, not to mention your unique nature,” She pauses to wait for him to break in, but he doesn't. Few people know about his degrees, until this moment he had thought Martian Manhunter and Batman were the only ones. “The only people who know more than you are the bad guys. Arguably.”

They talk for a little longer before departing the shop. He's carrying a satellite phone with him as they part ways.

.~.~.~.~

The woman is waiting in his bedroom when he gets home from school. He barely has time to realize she's there before she's speaking, “I'm Miranda Zero and you're Kid Flash.”

He trips over his own racing feet and crashes into the bed. His thoughts are going almost faster than he can keep up with and he focuses on one thing while he sorts the rest, “The Global Frequency is an urban legend.”

“Perhaps,” The woman says as she leans against his desk and very pointedly doesn't laugh at how he's sprawled half on and half off the bed, “but that doesn't mean we don't exist. I want you on the Frequency.”

“What?” He gets himself righted and sits down on the bed to just stares at her because it doesn't make any sense. His thoughts have finally sorted themselves out and he doesn't bother to pretend he isn't Kid Flash, she wouldn't have said it if she wasn't sure, “I work with the Flash.”

Her smile is mocking, “I don't want you for your speed. I want you for these.” 

Wally barely manages to catch the file thrown at him and feels his stomach drop out when he sees what's inside. Not even Uncle Barry or Robin know about this. He flips through the pages and sees abstracts for all of the papers he's managed to get published under various pseudonyms. Papers that had shaken the chemistry world at times and revolutionized them at others, “How?”

“It's my job.” Her voice is hard, but there's some kindness in her eyes, “I won't pretend to understand or care why you're choosing to hide your genius. I do care about what you can do with it. You've got an advance understanding of biochemistry, electrochemistry, and chemical engineering. Not to mention your passing fascination with making things explode. The Global Frequency can use you.”

The Global Frequency is supposed to be secret and their agents kept under the strictest confidence. No one was supposed to know about what he's been doing with his time in the Chem Club, none of it was ever supposed to get connected back to the explosion that almost took out his house and the mysterious appearance of Kid Flash shortly after. Clearly Miranda Zero, or someone working for her, managed to put together the pieces though. Joining the Frequency would mean increasing the chance of other people putting it together, despite all of their precautions. 

But how can he refuse the opportunity to help people?

.~.~.~.

The bus is nearly empty as it makes it's late night rounds. She sits in the back, leaning against a window, and wishes there was a way to just skip a few stops and get to hers already. Still, she notices the woman right away as climbs up the stairs. She isn't the sort of woman to ride the bus in the middle of the night, Artemis would have a hard time buying her on the bus in the middle of the rush hour work riders. Her hand sneaks into the side pocket of her backpack to wrap around her compact crossbow as the woman bypasses the many open seats and heads directly for her. She pulls it out as the woman sits down, “What do you want?”

“To talk, that's all.” The woman raises an eyebrow at the crossbow, but Artemis refuses to let herself be intimidated by the woman's lack of concern, “My name is Miranda Zero.”

Artemis doesn't bother to contain her snort of disdain, “Yeah, right.”

The woman reaches towards her pocket, but stops when Artemis raises the crossbow a bit higher. She waves a hand at the pocket and lets Artemis stick her hand in and pull out the phone, “I have 892 people on the Global Frequency.”

Artemis doesn't respond, instead playing with the phone. It's the most compact and advanced satellite phone she's ever seen; and she's seen League of Shadows and Justice League tech. Everything about the matches up to what the rumors say, “What do you want with me?”

“You broke every shooting record in the world by the time you were thirteen. You may have a preference for a bow and arrow, but if it fires a projectile you can use it and use it well. Green Arrow wishes he was as good as you are on an off day,” The woman, Miranda Zero, actually smiles at that. “I could use you.”

“I won't kill for you,” Artemis says as she puts away her crossbow. “I wouldn't kill for my dad and I sure as hell won't kill for you.”

The woman looks at her calmly, “I'm not asking you to.”

“Not yet you aren't,” Artemis lets herself sneer at the woman. There's only one thing people want with a sniper, ultimately.

“True,” The woman's face goes completely blank and she looks Artemis directly in the eyes, “There may come a time when I will ask you to kill someone, but I can promise you that if it happens it's because it'll save lives. A lot of lives. But it's not why I want you.”

“So why do you want me?” Artemis is still angry and lets it show in her face and voice, “What use is a sniper if you don't want them to kill?”

The woman actually laughs at that, “You send a thief to catch a thief-”

“A sniper to catch a sniper?” Artemis cuts her off.

“Precisely.” The woman reaches over her to pull the cord, “I want you to be on hand to assess locations and situations, figure out where the sniper is going to be or where they were. Use your skills to save lives.”

The woman's already off the bus by the time Artemis realizes she still has the phone sitting her in lap. 

.~.~.~.~

The woman approaches him as he's leaving the animal shelter he volunteers at in Metropolis. She matches steps next to him for a block before saying anything, “My name is Miranda Zero and I run an organization called the Global Frequency.”

He's heard of the Global Frequency, but he was told by the other kids at school that it wasn't real, “The Global Frequency is supposedly an international rescue organization comprised of hundreds of individuals who are experts in their fields. The combined knowledge of the group allows them to solve seemingly impossible problems in short periods of time. It's also not real.”

She stops walking and he stops with her, he's not sure why but he wants to hear what exactly she wants from him. She has a look on her face that reminds him of Black Canary when she thinks he's being particularly dense and he can feel himself getting angry. Before he can yell at her she starts talking again, “You'd be surprised at what's real.”

He crosses his arms and attempts to glare her into submission, although it feels about as likely as glaring Black Canary into submission, “And what do you want from me?”

“How many languages do you speak?” The question is simple, but he can practically hear the 'how many were programmed into you by Cadmus' that she pointedly doesn't say. It's clear she knows who he is otherwise she wouldn't be talking to him.

“Eighty-six,” he growls hoping that she'll leave him alone. “Why?”

Instead of leaving she actually looks impressed, “That's quite a few more than even our most generous estimates. As for why, I want you on the Frequency.”

He can feel his anger disappearing and being replaced by confusion, “You want me because I know a lot of languages?” No one wants him for anything but the reasons they want Superman and he can't even live up to those. 

“You also have a rather unique gift with animals,” The woman has a smile lurking around the edges of her lips now and once again he's reminded of Black Canary. She reaches into her coat and pulls out a phone, “Take this. If you decide you don't want to help us you can always return it.”

He's still looking at it when she walks away.

.~.~.~.~

He's not surprised when he finds her standing next to the batmobile. Honestly he'd been expecting her to show up weeks ago. He drops down into the alley and is somewhat impressed by the fact that she doesn't so much as flinch when he lands next to her, still, “No.”

“I shouldn't be surprised that you know who I am,” The woman, Miranda Zero, says as she walks to the car with him. “You haven't even heard my pitch yet.”

“Doesn't matter, the answer is still no.” Somehow he doubts it will put her off. A suspicion that's confirmed when he sees her eyes narrow in anger. She reminds him a lot of himself, “Get in.”

This time she doesn't bother to hide her surprise and she quickly gets into the car, looking around less than most people once she's inside, “So you're willing to listen?”

“I'm willing to tell you my reasons for saying no,” He responds as he pulls out of the alley and starts to head towards the cave. “I prefer to work from the shadow, much like yourself, but recent events have made that difficult.”

“The Justice League,” She says with something like distaste in her tone. “High profile.”

He could get to like her, “Yes, as such there are certain standards I must now adhere to when operating. Especially when not in Gotham.” If he ever has to listen to Clark lecture him on putting people in the hospital again it'll be too soon. They take a corner sharply and speed down a narrow alley and he is definitely impressed by the way she doesn't let any fear or unease show. She doesn't even grip the seat. “The Global Frequency does good work, but you also operate in ways that are not what the public wants from it's heroes.”

“We kill people when necessary,” She replies without hesitation. “Not always, but when it's the only way.”

“Yes,” He can tell she still wants to argue about his inclusion. “Heroes can't kill, if for no other reason than because if we started killing even those whose deaths are necessary it would be hard to explain why we don't kill others.”

“Like the Joker,” Her tone is showing acceptance and he thinks she gets it. “The Global Frequency is still a myth to most people and those that do know about us assume we wouldn't be able to work without government approval.”

“And you're not heroes, you're ordinary people.” It's not a bad thing. People need to know that they can make a difference without putting on a costume. “You're allowed to do things we aren't. Especially not someone as, high profile, as I am now.”

They ride in silence as he turns down one of the hidden tunnels in Gotham and speeds even faster towards the cave. As they pull up she looks out the window and asks, “If you're watching the watchmen, who's watching you?”

Most people don't get why he agreed to join the League, she figured it out in the course of a conversation. Yes, he could get to like this woman, “My butler.”

She laughs quietly, like she wasn't expecting it to happen, “What of your secret identity?”

He gets out of the car and gestures for her to follow him. The question answers one of his own, she doesn't know who he is, “My secret identity has no business being part of the Global Frequency. About all he's an expert at is spending money.”

He waits until she's done surveying the cave and looking back towards him before pulling off his cowl. This time she doesn't even try to cover her surprise and he smiles at it honestly. She grins in return, “Your butler really does watch you.”

“Would you care for a drink?” He gestures towards the stairs that lead to the manor, “After all Bruce Wayne is very good at spending money and I'm pretty sure I don't have to be part of the Frequency to donate to it.”

She grins like a shark at that and starts up the stairs, “I won't take it if it comes with strings.”

“Of course not,” He heads towards the showers himself, “I'll be up in a few minutes. Alfred should be waiting once you get to the top and I believe you already know my ward Dick.”

The sound of her laughter follows him into the showers, “His cryptography skills almost make up for his refusal to return his mother's phone.”

He laughs in response and starts the shower. He'll give her money and maybe find a kindred spirit.

**Author's Note:**

> I like to think that Miranda leaves the details of orientation up to Aleph. She goes off after getting the person on board and leaves all the nitty-gritty stuff to a later phone call that explains everything. 
> 
> Written for a prompt on the anon meme that wanted a Global Frequency crossover. Who was I to argue?


End file.
